Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC Raises Stake in The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL)

Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC lifted its position in shares of The Allstate Co. (NYSE:ALL) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,194 shares of the insurance provider’s stock after buying an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC’s holdings in Allstate were worth $616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ALL. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Peoples Bank KS purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $49,000. Stonebridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Allstate during the fourth quarter worth about $57,000. 76.47% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ALL shares. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $206.00 to $244.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $235.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Allstate from $186.00 to $187.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Allstate from $187.00 to $183.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Allstate from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Allstate presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $217.94.

Allstate Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ALL opened at $200.87 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $190.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $191.82. The Allstate Co. has a 52 week low of $155.59 and a 52 week high of $209.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 0.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market cap of $53.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.82, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 0.47.

Allstate (NYSE:ALL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The insurance provider reported $7.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.40 by $2.27. Allstate had a net margin of 7.28% and a return on equity of 28.20%. Equities research analysts predict that The Allstate Co. will post 18.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Allstate Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $1.00 per share. This is a boost from Allstate’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.92. This represents a $4.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. Allstate’s payout ratio is presently 23.54%.

Allstate announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.50 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the insurance provider to purchase up to 3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Allstate

In related news, CFO Jesse E. Merten sold 40,102 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $186.53, for a total value of $7,480,226.06. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,378,990.95. This represents a 68.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, provides property and casualty, and other insurance products in the United States and Canada. It operates in five segments: Allstate Protection; Protection Services; Allstate Health and Benefits; Run-off Property-Liability; and Corporate and Other segments.